On September 8, 1907, Pope St. Pius X promulgated the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, against the devastating errors of modernist doctrines. By definition, modernism is an ideology by which religious truths, and especially Catholic teachings, are derived and interpreted in accordance with personal religious experience, under the influence of the spirit of the current age….

Salvator Mundi is a painting of Christ as Salvator Mundi (Latin for “Savior of the World”) by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1500. The painting shows Jesus, in Renaissance dress, giving a benediction with his right hand raised and two fingers extended, while holding a transparent rock crystal orb in his left hand,…

The Biretta is a square cap with three ridges or peaks on its upper surface. It is worn by clerics from cardinals to seminarians. The use of such a cap is prescribed by the rubrics both at solemn Mass and in other ecclesiastical functions. The origins of the biretta are uncertain. It is mentioned as…

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 122 Reading 1 Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leaders, their judges, and their officers. When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people: “If it does not please you to serve the LORD,…

The maniple is an article of liturgical dress used in the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Holy Mass of the Roman Rite. It fell into disuse in the years of the post-conciliar reform, even though it was never abrogated. The maniple is similar to the stole but is not as long: It is…

On October 11, 1954, Pope Pius XII established the feast of “Queenship of Mary (celebrated on August 22 on the liturgical calender). Mary’s queenship does have roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever (Luke 1:26-38). At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother…